


Shore Leave

by fragrantwoods



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-22
Updated: 2012-10-22
Packaged: 2017-11-16 20:38:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/543593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fragrantwoods/pseuds/fragrantwoods
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A supper club and a new, intriguing man seems like the perfect way to end Erin Mathias' shore leave...and might be the perfect way to start her new life.<br/>Written for the cylon/human pairing pentathlon fic</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shore Leave

  
The flickering candlelight illuminated his dark features, throwing his hint of a goatee into sharp relief against his burnished skin. The table was a small island of quiet in the midst of the crowded, busy room. Small enough for her to reach over and thumb away a trace of blood orange coulis at the corner of his mouth.

“Missed a spot,” she murmured. Another week of knowing him...hell, another glass of wine, and she would have seriously considered kissing it off instead. His raised eyebrow and quirked lip told her he knew exactly what she was thinking.

“So…this is it, huh?” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled and stroked her hand with the tips of his fingers.

Erin nodded, her dark amber-honey hair brushing her cheek. She had one more day of wearing it down, then it would be brushed back and tied tight, battle helmet-ready. “For now, I think. I've got to get my gear together in the morning.” Her hand turned to cover his. “But my tour is almost up, Simon. Another three weeks and  _Galactica_  gets decommissioned…and I’m mustering out.”

Music started playing on the other side of the room, a dreamy ballad that suggested slow steps and swaying embraces. Several couples began drifting towards the dance floor, turning into each other’s arms with varying degrees of eagerness and expertise.

Simon flashed a warm smile and pushed back his chair. “Well then, Erin Mathias, may I have the last dance of your shore leave?”

She should have been too much of a hard-ass to blush, but there was something so different about his almost courtly ways that could make her feel young and almost shy, if she was in the right mood. He stood and extended his hand, and it wasn't to help her climb over a barrier or rappel down a wall…it was just to dance.

Laying her napkin beside her plate, she rose and took his hand, and they wove through the crowded dinner club until they reached the dance floor. She realized she was getting used to a skirt moving around her legs and hips as she moved. Maybe it wouldn’t be as hard to get used to civvies as she thought, although there were still times when she felt like she was in a costume.

It wasn’t so much about the skin that showed...her toned arms, the creamy, lightly freckled cleavage revealed by the deep vee of her neckline, the hint of firm thigh that flashed when she crossed her legs. She was as comfortable in her tanks and skivvies as she was her dress greys when she was Fleet-side.

Maybe fluid dresses and silky blouses showed too much of her private self. The self that was more than “Gunny” or “Sarge”. She’d have to get to know that side of herself better, find out who “Erin Mathias, Civilian” was. The day was coming when all the other terms would be behind her.

A ripple of anticipation ran up her belly as she looked at the tall, dark man who  was regarding her with admiring invitation. He seemed like he’d be willing to help her move into her new life.

Simon guided her into his arms, moving with a confident grace. His shoulders were broad enough to make her hand look almost feminine as it rested against him. In another week, gun oil and ship grime would embed themselves in the creases of her skin again, but tonight she felt well-groomed and elegant. She concentrated on that feeling as she looked into eyes the color of very old expensive whiskey. She wanted to hold on to that feeling, have something sweet to think about later when she stared at the rack above her and tried to fall asleep.

He moved his hand to the small of her back, pressing lightly. His hand was warm through the light fabric of her dress.

“I wish….” His voice trailed off as they swayed together.

“What do you wish, Simon?” Erin put her head against his shoulder, breathing in his unique scent of sweet grasses and something aquatic. He smelled like the beach on a summer day.

“I wish…we had more time.”

She looked up at him, and the humor had gone from his eyes. She shook her head and trailed her fingers down his neck. “I’ll be back down in three weeks. And then we’ll have all the time we want, until I start my job at the Academy.”

Simon kissed her lips gently, almost reverently, and pulled her close again. “I’m going to e-mail you every night.” He sighed, and she could hear an odd hitch at the end. “I’d really like to think of you reading how much I…care about you before you go to sleep.”

_He’s such a civilian_. She smiled again.

“Simon, I don’t know what shift I’ll pull. And I’ll be on  _Galactica_. No e-mail.”

She felt the hard muscle under her hand stiffen. The easy mobility of his features took on a stony cast for a moment so quick, she wasn't sure she’d seen it at all. His face softened again by degrees, and for the first time since she met him, the open kindness in his eyes seemed a little bit forced.

“No e-mail? Seriously? Why is that?”

Some of the warmth had gone out of his voice. She mentally shrugged. It had been a long time since she’d been with a civilian. It was strange, having to explain the basic facts of her Fleet life to someone who couldn’t really get what it was like. Stranger still to think that old life would be ending soon.

“The Old Man, the Commander…he’s got a thing about ‘excess technology’. There’s no networking on _Galactica_.” She rubbed his back reassuringly. “Why don’t you write up what you’d say in an e-mail each night, and we can read them together when I get back.”

She inhaled the warm scent that was becoming so familiar. She could get used to this.

She could get used to him.

“Come on, Simon…relax,” she whispered in his ear. “It’s not like you’re never going to see me again.”

His arms tightened around her. “You’re right, Erin.” His voice was a faint sigh against her cheek.

“It’s not like that at all.” 


End file.
